I am a Tombstone Tourist: someone who loves to wander cemeteries. I find it akin to visiting a museum: an opportunity to enjoy rarely seen sculpture, intricate carvings, and amazing architecture, all in a tranquil outdoor setting. This blog is about cemetery culture, art, history, issues of death, and genealogy - subjects of current relevance. I usually find something that intrigues me and makes me want to dig deeper. Care to join me? Read on...

Friday, June 17, 2011

Remembering Fathers in the Cemetery

Sonora Smart Dodd

This Sunday is Father’s Day, a day which is celebrated on the third Sunday of June each year in the United States.Sonora Smart Dodd thought of the idea of having a special day to honor fathers in 1909.

William Johnson Smart

Sonora’s father, William Smart, was a widower whose wife died while giving birth to their sixth child.He raised all six children by himself.Sonora felt that all fathers should be honored for their selfless actions with a special day.She chose June because that was the month of her father’s birth.The first official Father’s Day celebration was held on June 19th, 1910 in Spokane, Washington.

A bill to gain national attention for the holiday was introduced in Congress in 1913.In 1924, President Calvin Coolidge publicly backed the idea, but stopped short of issuing a national proclamation.It was 1966 when President Lyndon Johnson signed a presidential proclamation honoring fathers by declaring the 3rd Sunday of June as Father’s Day.President Richard Nixon made it a permanent national holiday by signing it into law in 1972.

A day to celebrate fathers is held in over 50 countries around the world, usually in May, June or the early autumn.Some Catholic countries celebrate it on the Feast of St. Joseph.The flower symbolic of Father’s Day, is the rose.Red is to be worn for a living father and white for a father who has passed on.

Statistics show that Father’s Day is the fifth most popular holiday for the sending of cards.It is estimated that $95 million is spent on cards each year.This includes cards not just for fathers, but grandfathers, uncles, sons and son-in-laws.And although more direct phone calls are made on Mother’s Day, more collect calls occur on Father’s Day.

There are many quotes about fathers including:

"It doesn't matter who my father was; it matters who I remember he was." -- Anne Sexton

"I cannot think of any need in childhood as strong as the need for a father's protection." -- Sigmund Freud

"If the new American father feels bewildered and even defeated, let him take comfort from the fact that whatever he does in

any fathering situation has a fifty percent chance of being right."

-- Bill Cosby

In cemeteries too, fathers are remembered and honored in many ways and by various names.A father who acted as teacher, disciplinarian, protector and friend is one to be honored and remembered.

About Me

I
love wine and will take any chance to sip, savor and share it! Hence, Joy’s JOY
of Wine http://joysjoyofwine.blogspot.com,
a weekly blog about all things wine. I've been in the industry for 15
years as a winery owner, marketing director, speaker, writer, wine judge, and
100% vino girl!

I'm
also a professional freelance magazine and book writer uncorking articles about
wine, food, history, travel, cemetery history and culture. My interest in
cemetery culture led to another great, or maybe I should say
"grave" gig, my weekly blog: A Grave Interest http://agraveinterest.blogspot.com where I get to travel around the country and speak about cemetery topics for genealogy, history and
education conferences.

I suppose you could say that wine is my
passion, and cemeteries are my diversion ... into another world.

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